Oft He Saw Her: Thrice He Spoke
by RicherWorldBuilding
Summary: In which we learn the truth of Jareth's heart. Complete
1. Chapter 1

_be easy._

 _take your time._

 _you are coming_

 _home._

 _to yourself_

 _\- the becoming | wing_

In one of the old tomes of the ancient fey philosophers it is written that a man speaks his heart's truth but once in his life. And yet, gentle reader, I am here to tell you that this is not an immutable truth, for I know of a man who spoke truth neither once, nor twice, but thrice. When first his heart was laid bare, he found only pain and rejection, and when he spoke a second time, he was answered only silence. But what happened the third time, gentle reader, I shall leave you to discover for yourself.

THE FIRST TIME

When first he faced her, they stood in the collapsing shards of his castle, his life and self crumbling around them.

 _Just fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave._

Fifteen short words, born of a lifetime of solitude, and released by a glimmer of hope, a shining silver ray of joy and beauty. There was something here, _someone_ here, so beautifully defiant. Defiant and determined, with an unshakeable will of iron. With Her by his side, they ought to have shared all the joys of the world – no, the joys of _all_ the worlds. With her, he could banish all loneliness and care, the cursed listlessness of immortality.

But She refused him, and banished him back to the dark despair that imprisoned him.

 _You have no power over me._

And he fell.


	2. Chapter 2

THE SECOND TIME

Many moons had passed, before again he laid his eyes on her. The magic of the Labyrinth was fading, shattered into as many pieces as he himself found himself to be. In this time of darkness She returned, bringing light and life in Her wake. She was the champion of the Labyrinth, he understood that now. In the days of its need She was summoned, and always She answered the call. And though he had sworn never again to lay eyes on her, Jareth found in himself a deep longing – his heart yearned to see Her once more, to see Her face, and nothing more.

So he stole out from his castle, from that silent, empty tomb, to find that face which so long had had his heart enthralled. And when he found her, standing triumphant in the moonlight, standing in the fullness of the Labyrinth, healed and restored to even greater glory by Her overpowering light – seeing Her there, he could not have spoken even if he had wished it, so he stood afar off, and marveled at Her beauty. She was older now, and wiser, yet fairer still, more beautiful than even She had been in memory.

She turned, and looked at him, and for another moment time stood still. Though a moment ago he had been unable to speak, the moment their eyes met he found words sliding, unbidden, from his lips.

 _"Sarah"_

He paused a moment, but found himself compelled to continue:

 _"I had not thought to see you again. In your absence, I have been made despondent. My heart was broken, and is still broken yet – and I fear that it will break worse, now that you have come again. Yet I regret it not. Leave, if you must, but know my heart is yours."_

And so it was that the King of the Goblins came to speak the truth of his heart a second time.

She stared at him for a few long moments, as though She would pierce his soul – but She spoke no words.


	3. Chapter 3

THE THIRD TIME

Time rolled on, and the seasons passed. Sarah came to live in the Labyrinth, but with his heart so broken by Her silence, the Goblin King could not even bear to see Her again. He knew that to do so would shatter him completely, and so he continued in his solitude. But he sought to salve himself with other pursuits, and strove in his many pursuits to be the sort of King that She could love. He was kinder to his people, and more thoughtful in his actions. He sang oft, and could on occasion be seen in the many gardens that flourished in his land (they flourished, you know, because of Her) – but though his heart seemed lighter, still he smiled not.

Then, one fateful year, there came the Hundredth Anniversary Gala, the crowning jewel to a feast and festival that lasted a full fortnight. It was the greatest celebration the fey lands ever knew, and ancient custom decreed that all should attend. It was a night of revelry and joy such as never had been seen – and, most importantly, She was there.

It is the nature of time that as it heals, it also brings growth. Words that once would never have been said are born first as quiet thoughts, which then grow into the fullness of the heart.

And so, as one of our lovers had despaired of all love, yet another sought him out – and, finding him upon the threshold of the doorway of his inner sanctum, Sarah and the King met eyes again, as though it were the first time.

 _"Jareth"_

"I have thought of you unceasingly since last we parted" she said, her eyes never leaving his, "and I must ask, for my heart can no longer bear it. I must know if those feelings you once expressed still hold true, for I feel my heart burning like a fire inside my soul. I have burned that in my rejection you would have forgotten me. Tell me, my love, you said once that you would never forget. Do you still remember?"

A small smile stole out over the face of the Goblin King. "Sarah" he said, "you have no idea how long I have waited to hear those words from you. Now that you have spoken truly, I too must now speak the truth of my heart."

"Sarah –" and he paused, "through many years, and pains unnumbered, I have found, at last, the love of my heart. There is only one thing in this world that makes my truly happy –" and he threw open the doors to his inner sanctum, the very core of his heart –

"Sarah, I love CARD STACKING!"

In the room Sarah saw card towers of every important landmark in existence. He then turns to his latest and greatest project, that stands unfinished. An card stack model of the Earth.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ (ಠ_ಠ)

 **THE END**

 **A/N Firstly I want to thank all my readers, and the reviews I have gotten. This is a troll fic, always meant to be, my co-writer and I thought it would be fun to do some satire, where everything is "Poetic" and "Deep", when really we wrote this in a fifth of an afternoon, deliberately making it as sappy, and pretentious, and kind of moronic. If you go back and read this critically I'm sure you will see it. I could take these two people and replace them with Edward and Bella, and would you really know the difference's? Also, when the heck did Jareth become a depressed and lonely sap? And Sarah? It's pretty clear that she and Jareth don't interact at all until this ball, if she really "burned" to see him, why didn't she Go See Him. It's one of Sarah's defining character traits that she doesn't back down, or wait, or cower.  
**

 **Thank you if you enjoyed this fic, it was fun to write.**

 **Lastly: This story is dedicated to my friend babewiththepower, for giving me the inspiration for this troll fic, and this stories co-writer, my besty older sister.  
**

 **A little back story on this story. So I was chatting with babewiththepower about my main story "Land of Stench" and we were like "Lol, you know what would be funny? if Jareth's passion in life was cardstacking." I then showed the message to my besty older sister, and a few hours later we had this! The most pretentious, sappy, WTF?! we could cook up.**


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